


Nursey and the Cup of Life

by xmasxray



Category: Check Please! (Webcomic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, I don't really have an explanation for this I am sorry, M/M, why? why not
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-13
Updated: 2016-10-13
Packaged: 2018-08-22 03:48:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8271530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xmasxray/pseuds/xmasxray
Summary: Ransom, Holster, and Lardo cast Nursey and Dex as the leads in their English project.





	

Dex watched as Holster walked into his math class, walked up to his teacher, and gestured to him a few times while the two of them talked. He narrowed his eyes at Holster when he finally walked over to him and told Dex he needed to follow him because they ‘needed to talk’ in the hall. Anything that possibly could have been about hockey could have waited until practice that afternoon, so he really had no idea what this could have possibly been about. When the two stepped into the hallway, his confusion only grew. Stood there, chatting idly outside of his classroom, were Ransom, Lardo, Bitty, Nursey, and Chowder.

“Got him. I _told_ you I could talk Ms. B into letting him escape,” Holster grinned.

“What the-”

“We’ve been kidnapped,” Nursey shrugged. “They wouldn’t tell us why until we got you too.”

Dex just stared blankly at the seniors and waited for an explanation. He needed to get back to class so he could finish the night’s homework before the bell rang. If he didn’t, he’d probably end up trying to do that at lunch, and he knows how impossible that is. If he didn’t finish during school, he’d have to wait until after hockey practice, and if he did that, he had absolutely no shot at a life.

Everyone else had classes to get to as well, now that he thought about it. Nothing he could come up with could possibly have been so important that they needed to all gather in the middle of class, especially when they all had lunch together in two periods.

He knew Ransom and Holster would sometimes skip their own classes to go to the other’s, but they’ve never just _left_ , and they certainly haven’t gotten anyone else.

Lardo was the one that ended up offering everyone an explanation, “we need your help.”

Dex blinked, wondering what the hell they needed _his_ help with before he realized she meant everyone they’d taken from class.

Bitty spoke slowly, “couldn’t this have waited?”

Dex was wondering the same thing, especially because no one had bothered to say _what_ they needed help with.

“Nah, we need to give Steve a cast list before the end of the period, so, it couldn’t wait. I texted Shitty and he and Jack are already on board,” she waved her phone around as though that would help explain anything about what was going on.

“Cast list?” Chowder asked, tilting his head slightly. He always looks like a confused puppy when does that, and it makes Dex smile a little.

Holster nodded and went on to explain that in their - Ransom, Holster, and Lardo’s - English class, they had been reading King Arthur, and instead of writing an essay on it, they had to do a project. That project had to be a ten minute long short film of an Arthurian legend that they would have to write themselves. There was a whole lot of criteria apparently, but Dex didn’t understand why any of that information was of any importance to him.

“Rans and I have written a rough draft of the script and we just need people to be in it.”

Chowder grinned, nearly bouncing with enthusiasm, “I would love to! Who would I be? Do you know yet?”

“Steve the slave trader,” Ransom and Holster responded at the same time.

“What? Why do I have to be a slave trader?”

“It would be funny,” Lardo shrugged, “I’d do it but I already have a role. Don’t worry about it, C, it’s not as bad as it sounds.”

Chowder looked disappointed for a second before it seemed he settled on being happy to be included, and Dex couldn’t help it when his smile grew ever so slightly.

“Sure, I’ll do it,” Nursey nodded, leaning against the lockers behind him. “I like Arthurian stuff, this should be pretty chill.” He looked like he was contemplating saying something before asking, “did you actually read any of the stories?”

“With all three of us combined? Most of them, probably,” Lardo shrugged.

“So you guys agree that Lancelot and Gawain were at least a little gay for each other, right?”

All of Dex’s knowledge of anything relating to Arthurian legends at all comes from _Merlin_ , that one British show his older sister used to have him watch with her. Based on that alone, he nods before he can stop himself. “Definitely.”

Everyone stared at him for a second before Holster asked him if he would be in the video too, to which he agreed. He didn’t see why he wouldn’t, really. He didn’t mind helping them out, and this seemed like it could have been a fun project to be a part of.

“You two,” Ransom pointed at Dex and Nursey, “are Gawain and Lancelot.”

“What,” Dex said, startled, as Nursey laughed beside him.

Their attention was on Bitty before he even got the chance to say anything else. Nursey turned and grinned at him, and Dex punched him in the shoulder as he felt his face heat up.

* * *

They never really were told what exactly the plot of the project was going to be, only that they would be emailed their scripts _eventually_. On top of that, they apparently wouldn’t need to take too much time looking over it, because they didn’t need to memorize their parts. All they had to do was show up in as close to time-appropriate clothes as possible and shoot for ‘close enough’ when it came to saying their lines.

The first time he’d read through the script, he’d been doing his chemistry homework with Nursey and Chowder on the floor in Chowder’s living room. Ransom said he’d sent it to all of them, so they agreed to take a quick break from their homework to look it over and find out just what this whole thing was about.

The character list alone was interesting to look at. Shitty and Lardo were King Arthur and Queen Guinevere, Ransom and Holster play Druids, Bitty is a blind jail guard, Chowder is, in fact, a slave trader named _Steve_ , Jack is listed just as Random Knight #1, and he and Nursey are, as promised, Gawain and Lancelot. Ransom is the only one with two roles, but he supposed the second didn’t count because he was also Random Knight #2.

Reading through it made him glad they didn’t have to stick to the script. Their lines were long and sometimes complicated, and on top of that he seemed to be one of the main characters, with Nursey as the lead.

The plot was familiar for some reason, and it took Dex until near the very end that he’d realized this was nearly _exactly_ an episode of _Merlin_ he’d seen once. When he’d looked it up, it was confirmed for him. The title was almost exactly the same, too.

He wondered which of the three seniors watched that show because it really couldn’t have been a coincidence. He’d bet on Holster.

Chowder seemed impressed with it and nearly burst with excitement about it, even though his character only had a couple lines. Maybe that was part of why he was so excited, Dex thought, because he’d probably be happy to be a character that wasn’t in over half the film.

No matter what, he just hoped he’d do a good enough job that he wouldn’t ruin the senior’s project, and, consequently, their grades.

* * *

They didn’t start filming until the Saturday two days before the senior’s project was due, because that was really the only day they could all get together at a local park for long enough to get anything done.

When Dex got there, the only other person sat at the picnic table was Chowder. He zipped up his coat in an attempt to fight off more of the biting winter morning chill and sat down across from him. Chowder looked worse than he did, with the hood of his Sharks hoodie pulled up, string pulled tight enough that Dex couldn’t help but wonder how he could see.

Chowder looked happy to see him, though, and that was confirmed when he gushed about how worried he’d been that he’d gotten the time or the day or even the place wrong somehow and would just be sitting here in the cold by himself for hours. Apparently he’d already been there for going on twenty minutes. That made Dex curious as to when the others would show up, but he was glad to see that everybody but Jack arrived within minutes of Dex’s arrival.

While they waited, they discussed all the dollar store props and “costumes” that the seniors had gone out and bought the night before.

Holster looked out at their table of plastic props and frowned, “we didn’t buy coconuts, though.”

It took a second for it to register that he meant the coconuts that were supposed to be used to make the horse noises as the actors ran, pretending to be on horseback.

“I have mints?” Dex offered, pulling the small tin out of his pocket and shaking it for good measure.

“Perfect,” Lardo nodded.

Dex set them on the table next to the wooden and plastic swords and axes.

Nursey eyed the plastic wine glass that was sat in front of him before picking it up, pulling a red sharpie out of his pocket, and drew little stars and a smiley face on it. His tongue poked out a little bit as he did this, and once he was satisfied with his artwork, he held it out proudly. “Now it’s a magic cup.”

The sound of a car door shutting shifted everyone’s attention to the parking lot where Jack was starting to head over to join the rest of the group.

“Sorry, I forgot to print out my script,” he said once he got to the table.

As it turned out, no one had brought their scripts. Dex, Nursey, and Shitty had it on their phones, but they couldn’t exactly use them in the video, especially when Nursey’s and Shitty’s phones were they ones they were supposed to be filming with.

Just like that, what started as ‘the script is _basically_ what you are supposed to say, but it doesn’t have to be exact’ quickly turned into ‘the script is a very loose guideline for the bigger plot points.’

For as much of the senior’s third quarter grade this video was worth, it was hardly taken seriously, and this made for some. Interesting scenes.

Lardo, who was supposed to be _deathly_ ill, needed to feign coughing, but she couldn’t get it to sound right, so she ended up pantomiming coughing while Holster made the actual noises off camera. The crown she was wearing was one of five pink paper crowns that said _princess_ on them in block letters that were most likely meant for a small child’s birthday party. During one of their breaks, Chowder ended up with the other four stacked on his head. He made Dex take pictures of him. The first shot, where Arthur tells his knights that the Queen is sick, took no less than five takes because Shitty kept laughing when he had to yell at them for making pop culture references. When they needed some shots of Lancelot going through the woods, Dex ended up chasing Nursey through trees for no fewer than three minutes. Holster cried while Chowder held him and stared directly into the camera. At some point, Shitty found two discarded candy cane lawn lights that were strung together by their wire behind the playground’s fence. They ended up being what Bitty, who showed he was a blind guard by pulling Jack’s beanie down over his eyes, used to defend himself. They were also a key to the jail cell, apparently. A joke making fun of their teacher, who is apparently the reason for Chowder’s character’s name, got filmed for some reason. Dex and Nursey were the ones to make it too, though it _was_ Ransom’s idea.

And that was all within the first hour.

As time went on, it just got colder and Dex found it hard to hold the camera for the scenes he was supposed to film. He got frustrated when he tried to zip his jacket up further, knowing full well there was no way that was possible. Between scenes, he rubbed his ears and shoved his hands in his pockets, trying to get at least somewhat warm.

Dex hadn’t seen Nursey walk off toward the table where all their things were, so he was surprised when suddenly Nursey was stood in front of him, pulling a hat over his ears. Before Dex could even say anything, he wrapped a scarf around his neck too.

“Don’t have anything for your hands, though,” he’d said, his hands lingering on the ends of the scarf.

“That’s- that’s okay. Thanks, Nursey.”

Nursey just grinned at him before he went back to where he was supposed to be for the scene so they could keep filming. As Dex pulled the phone out of his pocket, he told himself the red he felt on his cheeks was from the cold.

There was a scene - the first scene Dex was in - where he and Nursey were supposed to swordfight with their faces covered. The point of that was because apparently they weren’t supposed to know that they knew each other, because Gawain had been captured long before Lancelot and neither knew the other was there. So, at some point in the fight, one of their cloaks would come off, so the other would remove theirs to reveal their identities as well. It was an interesting concept, he supposed, and it helped explain why Gawain would end up on the quest with Lancelot.

Though, it _was_ Gawain and _Arthur_ that were on the quest in the _Merlin_ episode. Then again, they couldn’t exactly just recreate something that was already made, so he had to give it to them.

Even though the script wasn’t very clear on what they were supposed to do once they found out who the other was, beyond acting shocked and saying each other’s names all dramatically like people always do in movies, Dex was pretty sure they weren’t looking for Lancelot to stride across the “arena” and wrap Gawain up in a hug. When he stepped away, he held out a hand that he obviously expected Dex to take, so he did.

After they finished filming that as well as their escape from the slave trader’s arena, Dex had asked Nursey what that was all about, only to get a dismissive response about character interpretation or something. Dex just rolled his eyes and ignored Lardo’s laughter when he muttered something about hating theatre kids.

Shortly after, there was a scene where he and Nursey had to walk through the woods for a little bit before coming to a clearing that had nothing but an old rubber tire that someone had spray painted a bright orange that was meant to be the “Druid’s dwelling.” Ransom and Holster would be waiting there with the cup. Nursey and Dex each had one line they had to say before they could film the Druid scene, but Dex couldn’t get it right for the life of him.

Chowder, who was filming, kept patiently repeating the line to him, and even tried changing it up to make it shorter, or easier to say, but Dex just couldn’t get it right. It took seventeen takes for him to get even remotely close.

He felt less bad about it when they went to film the scene with the Druids and Ransom and Holster couldn’t remember really any of what they were supposed to say. As a result, it ended up just being a shot of the two of them lazily draped over the tire saying barely coherent things before handing them the cup. What was supposed to be something along the lines of “only the true love of the ill person can successfully fill the cup” ended up being Ransom gesturing vaguely and muttering something that sounded like “true love, though, or fill or fill no fill.”

It made no sense, but it _was_ funny, and it was enough that they could still follow the advice and know what was going on. Kind of.

It _did_ help explain why those two weren’t the leads in their own project, though.

When they went to the nearby creek to fill the cup, Dex had to do it first. Chowder had hopped across a few rocks so he could film far enough away from them that it framed right, and Dex waited for him to tell him to start. The script really hadn’t said much about what he was supposed to do here, so he just went for it. He pushed the cup into the cold water, and when he pulled it back out, stared at the plastic wine glass full of dirty creek water, and determined that it wasn’t ‘working.’ He didn’t know what was supposed to be visually different when Nursey did it, but he hoped that there would be enough suspension of disbelief to get them through it.

So he handed the cup to Nursey and told him to dump it out and give it a shot himself.

They determined it worked that time.

The two of them helped Chowder balance his way back to where they were without too much struggle, and the three went back to the table where everyone else was waiting successfully, and luckily, completely dry.

They told the others that what they’d gotten done _seemed_ to be a success, and when Nursey threw an arm around his shoulder to chirp him for the seventeen takes it took for him to say _one_ line, all Dex could do was roll his eyes and shove him off.

Then they all went back to the playground that was the castle, with Jack behind the camera this time. Dex and Nursey walked up to Shitty, and Nursey handed him the cup. Shitty was ecstatic that his wife would get better, and Dex carefully started saying that the Druid had - in his own way - warned them that only the ill person’s true love could get the cup to work, but before he could finish, Nursey elbowed him in the side and grinned at Shitty, giving him two thumbs up.

Finally, they had to film Lardo “drinking” from the cup - not actually drinking from it because that water was _filthy_ \- and that was a wrap.

They stood around in the playground and watched some of the shots they’d filmed, and talked about who needed to send the videos to who so it could be edited, and then decided it was about time to start packing up their props.

Dex glanced at his watch when they all sat back down at the picnic table. They’d finished a lot earlier than he had expected them to, so his parents aren’t expecting him home for another couple hours. He could just go home early, but he’d really prefer to enjoy as much of his weekend with his friends as he could.

He’d had a lot a fun doing this, more than he thought he would, really. In the end, he was grateful to be a part of it and even more grateful that they’d all forgotten their scripts. It made the project more interesting, he thought. More ridiculous, sure, but more natural too. Then again, he really didn’t know anything about acting or filming or anything about this, so he could be very wrong about that.

Nursey was sat next to him, and he hadn’t noticed how pressed together they were until he turned to say something, the words dying on his tongue.

Nursey must have noticed, because he turned to Dex with a small smile, “‘sup, Poindexter?”

“What’re you doing after this? I don’t have to be home ‘til eight, so,” he shrugged, aiming for nonchalant and probably failing.

“Just going home. You can come over if you want.”

“Sure.”

Nursey nodded and turned to Chowder, who was sat on his other side, “hey, C, you busy?”

“Yeah, sorry! I should actually probably go home and shower,” Chowder grinned before standing up and waving to everyone. “See you later! I hope you get a good grade on your project!”

Everyone shouted their goodbyes to him has he jogged off towards his house. Dex just watched as he went, wondering what Chowder had to do.

After that, the others slowly started to filter out. Dex helped Ransom and Holster pack all the props into the back of Holster’s car. This included the things Lardo had purchased because she refused to keep any of it. They only had 4 of those princess crowns scattered across the table, and the group came to the conclusion that Chowder must’ve taken one home with him, and Dex made a mental note to see if he could find it the next time he went over to his house.

After the seniors and Shitty had left, Nursey and Dex stuck around and chatted with Bitty and Jack for a while. He tried not to notice how the two seemed to be seconds from clinging to each other, but he supposed he had no room to talk, what with the way he was pressed up against Nursey. He pulled the beanie down further over his ears to try to cover up the red he knew they would be turning at the thought.

At a lull in the conversation that Dex had only been _kind of_ paying any attention to - he’s pretty sure they were talking about the approaching NHL playoffs, but he couldn’t be sure - Nursey bumped Dex’s shoulder with his own, “we should probably get going, huh, _Gawain_?”

Dex rolled his eyes but couldn’t help the small smile that formed despite himself, “alright, _Lance_.”

The two said their goodbyes to Bitty and Jack, politely declining their offer to drive them to Nursey’s and starting the ten or so minute walk to his house. They walked in silence for a few minutes, easily falling into step, close enough that their shoulders and elbows bumped every now and then.

Dex let himself wonder when the two of them got like this. He couldn’t find a point in time where their fights changed from borderline personal attacks to what could be considered friendly banter, or when they went from using Chowder as a buffer between them - or making sure to leave a big enough space if he wasn’t there - to being this close as often as they were.

He didn’t let himself wonder why he suddenly felt the urge to grab Nursey’s hand.

“I think I have a real chance with Guinevere, don’t you?” Nursey said with an amused look to break the silence, successfully pulling Dex from his thoughts.

_So we’re still doing this, then. Alright._ Dex rolled his eyes and elbowed his side lightly, “like anyone in their right mind would leave Arthur, you know, the _King_ , for _you_.”

He gasped in mock offense, clutching dramatically at his chest, “excuse you, I am a _catch_. Best knight in the land. She’d be lucky to have me.”

“You’d have better chances with _Merlin_ than the Queen, Lance,” Dex laughed, once again basing the entirety of his Arthurian knowledge on the TV series, “and you know it.”

“You’re one to talk about Merlin,” Nursey grinned, and Dex had to wonder if he’d seen that show too because he was pretty certain Merlin in actual legends was really, _really_ old and not around any of the nights that often at all. Then again, he really didn’t know anything about it, so he could be wrong. He was pretty sure that, in this case, however, he wasn’t.

He debated on whether or not asking would be a bad idea. If he hadn’t seen it, asking about it would more or less leave Dex susceptible to a lifetime of chirping about having watched that show. If he _had_ seen it, well, okay Dex really didn’t know what the upside would be. Best not to ask, then.

They walked up the path to Nursey’s front door, and once they were inside, Nursey just held a hand out to Dex expectantly. He had no idea what that could have possibly been for, so he just stared at him. When Nursey rolled his eyes and pulled the hat off of Dex’s head and unwrapped the scarf so he could put them back on the shelf by the door, Dex felt his face go red. He’d mostly forgotten he was wearing that stuff, but, more importantly, he’d forgotten _whose_ it was.

Dex spends enough time at Nursey’s house that he pretty much goes on autopilot once he got himself together, hanging up his jacket before going and sitting on the couch in the living room. As always, Nursey followed suit, asking if he wanted anything to drink and sitting next to him after he declines. Nursey turned on the TV and put the Sharks @ Devils game that they had watched with Chowder the night before. Even though they’d already seen it, neither changed the channel. It was almost over, and there was likely a different game on after it, so there really wasn’t a point in channel surfing to find something else they could agree on.

“Besides, G,” Nursey said, draping an arm over the back of the couch behind Dex, “you’re just jealous because _you_ don’t have a true love. Unless you do?”

His faux curious look was met with one Dex hoped said ‘ _you know damn well I do not know the answer to that question._ ’ He assumed Nursey would say something, because _seriously_ , he knew next to nothing about any of the knights, let alone whether or not Gawain had a love interest. Sure, there were a couple episodes of _Merlin_ where he’d had something going on but he highly doubted those actually counted for anything. Instead, Nursey just stared at him with that dumb look on his face, waiting for an answer.

He thought for a second before settling on, “I don’t feel too compelled to tell you anything about that.” He figured that covered all of the bases pretty well.

“So you _do_ , then?”

He laughed, and Dex crossed his arms, “I didn’t say that.” Then again, this could be Nursey telling him that, _yes_ , Gawain did have a love interest in the legends. He couldn’t really be sure, though, so he slowly added, “unless I do?”

Nursey shrugged, “you could.”

Dex really, _really_ , has no idea what they are talking about. The conversation seems to have entered a weird gray area that he didn’t know how to approach. Unless it hadn’t, and Nursey was being straightforward and he was overthinking things. That’s probably what it was.

“I guess?”

He was hoping Nursey would provide some kind of explanation, or say anything at all, really, but the game ended and a different one came on, Pens @ Stars, so their focus was shifted to that.

At some point during the first period, Nursey’s arm had gone from the back of the couch to around Dex’s shoulder, and Dex wouldn’t mind it so much if it weren’t so _distracting_. That combined with how close they’d somehow gotten over the past several minutes really made it hard to focus on the game.

It shouldn’t be distracting. Dex knows this. They sit like this all the time, but it’s usually in the presence of a teammate or two. Or anyone. Dex just couldn’t help but think about everything that had already happened that day and the fact that they were _alone_ made his mind race. He just wanted to watch the game, but it couldn’t keep his mind off of the presence of his friend’s arm for very long.

When the TV cut to commercial at first intermission, Nursey spoke without taking his eyes off the screen, “so you’re _sure_ I don’t have a chance with Gwen, then?”

He thought they were finally done with this, so he just rolled his eyes with a sigh, “ _yes_ , Lance, I am pretty sure she’s not going to leave Arthur. In another universe, maybe.”

Nursey stuck his tongue out slightly, like he was thinking about what to say next. Before Dex could even ask if they could _please_ go back to being themselves, he finally turned to Dex and asked, “who do you think I have a chance with in _this_ universe, then?”

Dex just blinked. He wasn’t sure what exactly the question was meant to mean. Was this still in character, or was Nursey using that as a front to ask this about himself? The stress on ‘ _this_ universe’ really blurred the lines and it made his head spin. After a moment of thought, he decided on a response he felt fit either situation well: a small shrug and “anyone you want, probably.”

Nursey stared at him for a second, and Dex tried to fight the heat spreading across his face as he asked, “what about me?”

His face wasn’t really easy to read, and it wasn’t until he offered a small smile and “yeah, you would do” that Dex realized he did _not_ word that question right.

He couldn’t stop the blush as he hurriedly tried to correct himself, “I- no- Nurse that- I meant- I meant- y’know, um, who do I have a chance with, y’know, not like- I wasn’t asking if-”

“Chill, Dex.” His statement was punctuated with Nursey pulling him ever so slightly closer with the arm that was draped across his shoulders.

The second period started before he had the chance to say anything else.

If their proximity was distracting before, it was far worse then. They were closer, Nursey’s arm was less relaxed and more like he was _holding_ him, and now the words _‘you would do’_ were floating around in his head, drowning out pretty much any other kind of coherent thoughts he could try to have.

The exception being the scared voice in the back of his head telling him he needed to _run_ , to get away, put the space back, do something, _anything._ He wasn’t sure if he was successfully ignoring it or if _‘you would do’_ really was rendering him incapable of doing anything beyond sit there and try not to crumble under the weight of Nursey’s arm.

There was another cut to commercials in the middle of the second period, and Nursey stood up and stretched. It left Dex feeling cold, and he couldn’t decide what part of that made him angry. He couldn’t tell if it was the fact that he was cold, or that _Nursey_ was keeping him warm, or if it was because Nursey stood up. He refused to accept that it was the last one, because really, he knew it was, but it was just easier to ignore it. He could ignore it, honest.

“Want me to make some popcorn?”

Dex just nodded and brought his knees to his chest, resting his chin on them. He stared at the screen when Nursey left the room and let his attention try to focus on the weird box thing singing about saving money with _Progressive._

He bit at his lip as he watched through the commercial break, seeming more intently focused on the game once it came back on than he really was - or could be, at that point.

Nursey came back into the room a few minutes after the commercials stopped, a bowl of popcorn in one hand and a blanket draped over his other arm.

He set the bowl on the coffee table in front of them, “did I miss anything?”

“Stars are just finishing up a power play, nothing really important happened, though.”

He wouldn’t really know if it had, though.

Nursey nodded, sitting down on the couch, just as close to Dex as he’d been before. He nudged Dex’s knees in a silent request for him to put his feet down, but the wood floor was too cold for that, so Dex elected to just shift how he was sitting so he could lay his legs across Nursey’s lap, his knees resting against the other’s chest.

You wouldn’t hear Dex admit that he leans in when Nursey wraps his arm around his shoulders this time, or that he let his head rest against Nursey’s shoulder - it was easier to see the TV like that, okay? - or the fact that Nursey seemed to hold him closer after the blanket was settled over them made him feel warmth he knew wasn’t due to the proximity.

He truthfully didn’t know what to do about the warm feeling creeping over him that made his stomach flip in a way that was almost comforting, so he tried to ignore it, but that turned out to be completely impossible. It was like he was in a bubble of warmth and comfort, and he couldn’t have fought the soft smile on his face even if he tried.

He hadn’t even been tired, so he was confused when Nursey was gently shaking him by the shoulders to wake him up.

“Dex, c’mon, wake up.”

Dex does his best to dismiss the way he’d fallen asleep: with his forehead pressed against Nursey’s neck; tries to dismiss the fact that he’d fallen asleep so curled up with Nursey at all.

“You have to be home by eight, right,” Nursey asks when he notices Dex is awake.

He sits up, blinking, and hums with a nod.

“It’s after seven thirty.”

_That_ wakes Dex up. It takes about twenty-five minutes for him to walk home from Nursey’s house, twenty if he runs for parts of it.

Nursey moves his arm from around his shoulders, resting his hand on Dex’s head for a second before using it to lift Dex’s legs off his own so he can stand.

“See ya,” he smiles, and it’s soft in a way Dex can’t - doesn’t want to - place.

“Yeah, bye, Nurse.”

He shrugs on his coat, looks at his watch, and decides it’s probably best to run home. Partly because he’s short on time, but mostly because running will clear his mind, and there are a _lot_ of thoughts he’d rather be avoiding right then.

The air is even colder than it was earlier, the crisp night cold a welcome distraction, and as much as he’d love to stuff his hands into his pockets to try to keep them somewhat warm, doing that would just make it harder to run.

He doesn’t like running much, but he can appreciate how it silences every thought until he’s done and left gasping for air on his front porch. He watches the puffs of breath as they disappear, and he thinks about nothing.

* * *

Dex manages to busy himself with mind-numbing tasks at home for a few hours, even managing to finish a rough draft of an essay he didn’t plan on working on until well into the next week, but by the time he finishes, it’s nearly two am and there’s nothing left to distract him from the day’s events. He’d cleaned his room when he got home, and it was too late to go around the house to clean or fix other things.

Everything that happened that day swirled around his head like a tornado, destroying anything else in its path and making Dex dizzy and even a little nauseated. He thought about the scarf and hat, and the hug that definitely wasn’t in the script, and everything that happened from the moment they’d left the park. Louder than anything, _‘yeah, you would do’_ repeated itself over and over again like a broken record Dex was powerless to stop.

Before he even thought about it, Dex was calling Nursey.

“Dex? Are you alright? It’s-”

He pushed himself past the concern lacing Nursey’s voice, not letting himself dwell on it.

“What did you mean when you said I would do?” He needed to know. If he let himself ease into that question, he knew he’d never ask it.

There was a sigh on the other end and Dex bit at his lip. _“Dex.”_

“Nursey,” he pressed.

“I meant exactly what I said,” a pause, “why aren’t you sleeping?”

“You aren’t sleeping either,” Dex pointed out, attempting in vain to keep his heart rate somewhere near normal.

“That’s because _someone_ just called me at two in the morning.”

Dex makes a face because, _fine_ , he has a point, but this really didn’t help answer his question. Really it made him even more confused.

“Okay, but did you mean _me_ , or did-”

“ _Yes_ , I meant you.”

“Oh, well, okay.” Dex felt stupid for asking, and he felt even worse for waking Nursey up to do it. “Goodnight, then.”

“No, I’m awake now.”

“Sorry,” he mumbled and stood from his desk chair so he could go lay in bed. He didn’t know what he expected to happen, and now he didn’t know what to do.

“Do you want to talk about this now or later?”

Dex didn’t really know what he meant by that, but he guessed that, on some level, he did. Maybe he would just prefer to ignore it. He could do that, ignoring things and avoiding them seemed to work pretty well for him in the past. _Never_ , he tried to will himself to say, but his tongue betrayed him and he muttered a broken “now.”

They were both silent for what felt like forever, but the glowing digital clock beside his bed told him it hadn’t even been two full minutes. Nursey sighed, breaking the silence.

He spoke quietly enough that it almost felt like he was actually whispering in Dex’s ear, “I think I already made myself pretty clear.”

He supposed, yeah, Nursey really had. He finally allowed himself a moment to really dwell on everything, and let himself see it in the context he’d tried so hard to avoid. Dex had to give it to him, he, in the least straightforward way possible, had said everything he’d needed to. In a manner of speaking, he even said he’d date Dex. Or something along those lines. He still wasn’t sure if he was misreading that whole conversation.

He also knew that when Nursey said that, it was his way of saying he was waiting for Dex to say something about it. Dex just, well, he really didn’t know _what_ he wanted to say. He’d never really thought about it until today, and definitely still didn’t know how he felt about it. Still, he realized, he kind of _did_ say how he’d felt. Even if he didn’t know that’s what he was doing, or rather, hadn’t meant to do in the first place, he still had shown it. He just hadn’t actually spoken it aloud.

“I. I think I did too.”

They’re silent again, and Dex can’t help but wonder if Nursey is thinking the same thing he is; can’t help but wonder if he’s thinking back to that afternoon, to how close they were. He wondered if Nursey was as comfortable as he was, if he’d felt the same warmth Dex had felt. He wondered if Nursey had felt that before, when they’d sat pressed up against each other before and if it just took _him_ this long to notice. He wondered how Nursey felt when he noticed he was asleep. He couldn’t imagine how he’d feel if Nursey fell asleep practically in his lap like that.

He didn’t even know just how much of a confession he was putting out there when he let himself be pressed so closely against Nursey.

“Then what do you want to do about it?”

Dex swallowed. He was thankful Nursey left it up to him. Both of them knew that Dex was a lot less comfortable with a lot of things, and this kind of thing would take him a long time to get used to in some ways. In others, though, he couldn’t imagine anything else.

“Maybe,” he took a deep breath, “maybe we could try to, I guess, we could try to go on dates or something.”

“Is that what you want?”

_No_ , Dex wanted to say, because part of him wanted the label and everything that came with it, but the rest of him was scared of just that. So he nodded, even though he knew Nursey couldn’t see it.

“For now.”

“I can do that. Goodnight, Dex.”

“Goodnight, Nursey.”

He bit his lip for a second before quickly adding “do you want to do something tomorrow, oh, uh, today,” before either of them could hang up.

“We could go to a movie?”

“Yeah,” Dex smiled a little to himself, “a movie sounds great.”

“See you.”

“Bye.”

When the line cut with a click, Dex put his phone on the nightstand beside his bed and pulled his blanket up to his chin. He fell asleep thinking about how he would thank Ransom, Holster, and Lardo for asking him to be in their school project.

 

**Author's Note:**

> So. This is more or less based on real events. This project was one I had to do and it was a lot weirder than I even let on, if that seems possible. It was fuckin wild. I played Steve, it was a Time. 
> 
> We got a 98% on it. The 2 points we lost were for professionalism
> 
> Also! This is my first Check, Please! fic and I was really cautious about posting it bc I dunno how I feel about it, and I worry it's too OOC. Writing characters that are new to me is always hard so, I guess I have to start somewhere, and that somewhere is here. Thank you very much for reading!


End file.
